Formula 1 in India

3D version of the track

Finally India will see cars running at 300kmph+ for some days of the year. No, not talking about the introduction of Bugati Veyron but talking about the arrival of Formula 1 in India. The sport that thrills many, the sport that has viewership second only to events like football world-cup is here. Though the circuit is yet to be approved, I am quite sure that if not this year, it will be here next year but it’s going to be here.

Karthikeyan in Jordan's cockpit

Many people feel that Indian connection with the sport began with Karthikeyan driving for Jordan (and a lot of buzz was created about it) but the connection had began way back in 1996 when Kingfisher started sponsoring Benetton Formula Ltd. It just became more vivid and relevant when Karthikeyan came on board and later when Spyker was taken over and christened as Force India in 2007. But it wasn’t that special in all those years because none of the things were successful enough to develop a fan following. Karthikeyan struggled; his best finish being a 4^th place in a race where only 6 cars finished. Spyker’s takeover was a last minute move and the team didn’t click in the first couple of seasons. And we really don’t like to see Indians lose and struggle, whatever sport it maybe.

Vijay Mallya celebrates Force India's first pole

What makes it special this year is that the Indian GP will have a flamboyant Indian as a team principle of a competitive Indian team and apart from this the race will also have a Indian driver on the grid. There is also an outside chance of Dr. Mallya’s dream, of his team scoring a podium finish in the first ever Indian GP, coming true.

Talking about the sport, it has never been better. There is no single team or driver ruling it completely. For the last two seasons, it has begun well for one team and ended on a high note for another team. It has seen 5 different champions in last 5 years, the recent namely Sebastian Vettel being the youngest one. A night race has been introduced; seven times world champion has made a comeback from the retirement; high profile teams have failed to click; some scandals have unearthed; in short its all happening on the track and off the track. The heat is already on with Alonso expecting Schumacher to be a title rival and Hamilton writing the 7 time world champion off. A seat also may get vacated at Lotus Renault due to the accident Kubica suffered a few days back and we might see some last minute shuffling.

As a end-note, I just hope Formula 1 gets a grand welcome in India..

Looking forward to 30^th October…